A Tale of Force: Examining Policy Proposals to Address Police Violence

Abstract

We develop an explicitly organizational and relational approach to examine the problem of police violence, focusing empirically on prominent policy recommendations to increase officer demographic diversity, raise educational requirements for new officers, and implement community policing strategies. We first review prior research on these proposals, which is surprisingly thin and non-supportive of the proposals. To examine the baseline plausibility of these recommendations, we estimate cross-sectional negative binomial models, regressing counts of police department use of force on indicators of community policing, officer education, and officer racial and gender diversity. We find that police organizations with more college-educated officers are less violent toward citizens, but that the race and sex composition of law enforcement organizations are not associated with lower levels of police violence. After unpacking the community police philosophy into component practices, we find that practices that encourage proactive policing are associated with higher levels of police violence, while those that encourage the formation of relationships with citizens may reduce police violence. In conclusion, we advocate for better data collection on police violence, increased theorizing of police violence as an organizational accomplishment, and future policy interventions that approach police forces as potentially violent and racialized organizations.

Tract level associations between historical residential redlining and contemporary fatal encounters with police

“…This process imprinted a stamp on the collective memory of the cities that received the codes and continues to inform how police should behave in different areas. Recently, in response to the Black Lives Matter movement protests against police violence, the Obama and Trump administrations have proposed their own initiatives to investigate and possibly curb fatal encounters with police 2 (38). Additionally, following the massive public protests that culminated after the killing of George Floyd, congress introduced the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in February 2021 with the expressed support of the Biden administration (39).…”

Rewiring Police Officer Training Networks to Reduce Forecasted Use of Force

“…Given the unique police subculture and hierarchical structure, researchers argue that misconduct is learned through conforming to beliefs, values and norms and emphasizing on in-group and a sense of brotherhood mentality. Researchers have explored this aspect of misconduct in various ways, including through surveys, interviews with officers, analysis of department policies and case studies of specific incidents and practices [ 109 ]- [ 114 ]. "Blue wall of silence" within police departments create a culture of secrecy and silence making it difficult for individual officers to speak out against misconduct without fear of retaliation or social ostracism [ 115 ]- [ 117 ].…”